MINIMALLY INVASIVE PLATE OSTEOSYNTHESIS AND VASCULARITY - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A CADAVER INJECTION STUDY

A cadaver arterial injection study was performed to analyse the vascul ar supply to the femur and to study the effects of two surgical platin g techniques on femoral vascularity. A 16-hole LC-DCP was applied on t he intact femora of five fresh human cadavers. On one side, the plate was inserted using a conventional lateral plate osteosynthesis (CLPO) technique with elevation of the vastus lateralis muscle to expose the shaft. On the contralateral side, the plate was inserted percutaneousl y beneath the muscle using a minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis ( MIPO) technique. After plating, blue silicone dye was injected through the common femoral artery. Cadaveric dissection was then performed to identify the femoral perforating arteries (PAs) and the nutrient arte ry (NA) of the femur. The pattern of periosteal filling and medullary perfusion of the injected dye was analysed and the topography of the P As and NA was determined. CLPO placed the PAs and NA of the femur at r isk. MIPO maintained the integrity of the PAs and NA and was associate d with superior periosteal and medullary perfusion. The results of thi s study indicate that MIPO Is superior to the CLPO in maintaining arte rial femoral vascularity and perfusion.